Milwaukee’s Massive 2026 Cruise Season Will Be Aided By New, All-American Cruise Ship
Visits are expected to nearly triple in 2026.
American Patriot. Photo from American Cruise Lines.
The Miami of the Midwest appears poised to have its moment in the sun next summer. Cruise traffic in Milwaukee is expected to nearly triple in 2026.
The number of vessel calls is expected to grow from 22 to 60, aided in part by a brand new ship entering the Great Lakes and the mid-season opening of the $17 million South Shore Cruise Dock.
The U.S.-made American Patriot will call on Milwaukee six times. Utilizing an all-American crew, the 243-foot, 130-passenger vessel will offer two all-U.S. itineraries from Milwaukee.
“They’re all going to be turnaround visits,” Korey Garceau, port trade representative, told the Harbor Commission Thursday morning. Turnarounds mark the end of one trip and start of another, and are highly desirable for ports because they involve hotel stays, air travel, more passenger spending and more vessel service purchases.
The American Patriot being American-made and flagged allows operator American Cruise Lines to offer an only-stateside itinerary, avoiding restrictions imposed by the Passenger Vessel Services Act on foreign ships that force most Great Lakes cruises to include Canada.
American Cruise Lines, the parent company of current Milwaukee cruise tenant Pearl Seas Cruises, will offer a Milwaukee to Cleveland cruise as well as a Lake Michigan loop that includes Sheboygan, Green Bay, Escanaba and Muskegon.
The American Patriot will join Pearl Seas’ Pearl Mist vessel in docking at Pier Wisconsin at Discovery World. Connecticut-based Pearl Seas already uses Milwaukee as its Great Lakes base and heavily features the Cream City in its marketing materials. It also holds a 10-year, priority lease for the dock adjacent to downtown.
After a trial visit in 2018, the company replaced Chicago with Milwaukee as the western endpoint for its Great Lakes cruises. Milwaukee officials have lauded the company for launching the city’s cruise ship business.
The 325-foot, 210-passenger Pearl Mist visited Milwaukee five times in 2025.
American Cruise Lines also operates several other United States cruises, including Mississippi River trips.
Victory Cruise Lines, which operates two vessels that each carry up to 190 passengers, is expected to boost its Milwaukee calls from three in 2025 to 30 in 2026.
2025 was down year
Port officials knew 2025 would be a down year for cruise traffic, but the city is betting millions on the South Shore Cruise Dock elevating cruise business to new levels.
The city saw 11,096 cruise passengers in 2025, only 41 off the expected total of 11,137. All 22 planned vessel visits were made, with last week’s Hapag Lloyd‘s Hanseatic Inspiration visit being the last of the season.
Last year, the city nearly eclipsed its 2022 record total of 13,611 passengers when 13,568 passengers came through the port. The 2025 total is the lowest post-2020 total recorded, and port officials previously attributed it to Viking Cruises temporarily repositioning its itineraries.
Viking and its two 665-foot, 378-passengers were the driver for the city to build a new cruise dock. The Seawayway max vessels, the largest size that can enter and exit the Great Lakes, are too large to dock at the downtown dock.
The new dock, 2320 S. Lincoln Memorial Dr., is located at the south end of the 467-acre port next to the Lake Express Ferry terminal. Viking’s vessels currently dock at the industrial heavy lift dock on the inner harbor.
Not every vessel is expected to follow Viking to the new dock.
“It will be draft dependent,” said Garceau. He estimated 50% of vessels would still dock at Pier Wisconsin.
Port Milwaukee plans to open its new South Shore Cruise Dock next summer after bid documents revealed the initial completion date was delayed from April, the start of cruise season, to June 30.
The city held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the new dock in September.
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